Michael Owens' Glass Bottles Changed The World

He also wasn't very good at drawing, couldn't read a blueprint and lacked mechanical talent.

But he could visualize new inventions in three dimensions.

Michael Owens grew up in West Virginia and moved to Ohio, where Owens-Illinois still thrives, boasting a stock rise of 363% from 2006 to '08.... View Enlarged Image

He also communicated well with engineers, who designed his machines to make glass bottles. "His automation of the bottle-making industry changed the course of civilization," Quentin Skrabec, author of "Michael Owens and the Glass Industry," told IBD. "His machines made possible pasteurized milk and baby bottles, inexpensive containers for beverages, standardized pharmaceutical bottles, and better storage for fruits and vegetables, which improved diets."

Owens (1859-1923) was born in Mason County, W.Va.

At 9, he joined his father at a coal mine, but an injury to his eye resulted in his mother removing him and sending her son to Wheeling to become an apprentice at a glassware maker. Youngsters made up a quarter of the workforce there.

For 30 cents a day he worked two five-hour shifts, six days a week, with the heat in the factory reaching 100 degrees in the summer.

Warming Up To Move Up

Owens' Keys

Automated the bottle-making industry.

Overcame: Lack of technology for mass production of glassware.

Lesson: Something that has never been done is just a missed opportunity.

"It can be done," reads a plaque in Owens' office.

Owens worked in every position, giving him the hands-on knowledge to later manage plants and think of ways to boost processes.

He didn't waste time on recreation with his peers because of a burning ambition to own a glassmaking factory. By 15, he was a journeyman glassblower.

He had trouble early breaking through the glass ceiling into management because of discrimination against Irish Catholics.

Then came a big break from Edward Libbey. He moved Libbey Glass from Boston to Toledo, Ohio, in 1888 to save on fuel and transportation costs and avoid union strikes, which had depleted his resources. Owens responded to an ad recruiting skilled workers.

The new plant struggled to take off, and many workers were lazy or had negative attitudes, Owens found. He stuffed the suggestion box with so many ideas, Libbey appointed him superintendent.

The first thing Owens did was fire all 500 employees and shut down the operation. He then hired back only those who worked hard and recruited other old colleagues.

He led by doing, arriving before sunrise and leaving 12 hours later.

Productivity and product quality soared, with improved delivery times and fewer costly remakes.

When Owens started managing at the end of 1890, the firm had racked up a loss for the year of $3,000, or $76,500 in today's money. By the end of 1891, it had earned $75,000, worth $1.9 million now .

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